Hot on the heels of the conclusion of this year’s race down the Mississippi, which Barry and Irene Jason of Keller, Texas, won, the Great Race has released the route for next year’s running of the event. Just as last year, the Great Race will be a north-to-south affair, this time traveling from Maine to Florida.

Beginning in Ogunquit, Maine, on June 21, 2014, the Great Race will make overnight stops in Lowell, Massachusetts; Poughkeepsie, New York; Wayne, Pennsylvania; Norfolk, Virginia; New Bern, North Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; and Jacksonville, Florida. Lunch stops will take place in Bennington, Vermont (Hemmings HQ!); Long Pond, Pennsylvania; Millsboro, Delaware; Elizabeth City, North Carolina; Jacksonville, North Carolina; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; and Ocala, Florida, before the Great Race wraps up on June 29 in The Villages, Florida.

The 2014 running of the Great Race represents a continuation of the themed races re-started four years ago. Amazingly, despite its long history, the Great Race has never even set foot in the state of Maine and hasn’t been to Florida since 2004, when it started in Jacksonville; so, according to Jeff Stumb, the director of the Great Race, an East Coast theme seemed like an easy selection.

Not sure if every year is like this one, but this was an event for the racers and not spectators. Even though we were very near the route we could not find out the exact road and so missed seeing the cars except for some photos one of our friends took. We tried calling every one, highway patrol, chamber of commerce of Hannibal Missouri, where the nearest stop over was, with no luck. I am not sure why you even publish the date of the race if no one gets to watch.

Well,I know they will be coming through my town as there is only one way to get from Millsboro DE to Elizabeth City NC:down US113 through Snow Hill MD to US13 and across the Chesapeke Bay Bridge-Tunnel to US17. Should make for an interseting day!

The exact route isn’t published before the race to keep participants from getting an edge on one another. In fact, the participants don’t even know the route until they’re handed directions at the start of each leg.

To further clarify Dan’s reply, there are actually three routes: One for the Great Race drivers/navigators, one for support teams, and another for staff vehicles. The route for support and staff vehicles are the only two that are issued as teams arrive at the initial event start point, and each bypass the main race route. Any team support vehicles caught on the same route as the Great Racers can be assessed a team penalty; the exception being short sections of the route where the two/three paths cross, such as leaving a lunch or overnight stop. Drivers/navigators are issued their set of directions about one hour prior to the start of each day’s morning/afternoon segments.

I live in The Villages so I know where it will end. Several years ago it had a lunch stop in Delavan, Wi and they did have an area where people could see the cars. I lived in Elkhorn, Wi then. Great event

For anyone interested in seeing as much as you can handle in a single sitting the overnight stops are the events to take in! The lunch stops are great too but the over nights will allow the viewing of participants vehicles and a chance to speak with drivers, navigators and support crews for several hours in one location. Also, through out the area of overnight stops cars can be viewed at parking lots at many hotels ! Bring the kids and your cameras!

If the race passes down the US 13, watch your speeds carefully! Every small town and county police trooper seems to be out on this highway, picking off speeders who don’t strictly adhere to the posted speed limit. I just passed this way a couple of weeks ago on my way to Virginia Beach.

Since Hemmings seems to be in a “North-South”frame of mind for their Great Race series, can we assume that in the near future a West Coast route will be in the offing, so we, too, can see these great cars? Many years ago, while living in St. Louis, I had the opportunity to see several overnight Great Race stops in the St. Louis-St.Charles area. That was a rare treat.

The race route: the teams don’t know the route (as in towns or highway numbers) even after we get the route instructions. It’s often just signs that say turn right, go straight at the stop, that sort of thing. All we know is the lunch and dinner stop, and that’s published on the GR website.

The spectators on the timed portions of the rally are usually the local residents, who contact their friends by cell phone. If you get out your lawn chair and watch the race go by, and if everyone is doing it correctly, you’ll see one car go by every minute, at or below the speed limit. It would take an hour and a half for the race to go by. The last cars to pass are official GR vehicles: sweep car and the tow truck (hopefully with no race cars on it). It’s pretty cool, but not very exciting.

The best place to watch GR is near the announcer’s location at the lunch and overnight stops. Go up the course from the announcer just a bit, so you can still hear him. You’ll hear and see the cars running, and Motormouth will tell you about each team and the car. Buy a souvenir program from the girls and you’ll have all the rest of the info. The announcer gets set in place a half hour before the race cars come in, so give yourself about 2 hours for the experience. If there are problems on the race that day (weather, breakdowns, etc) that’s where you’ll hear about it.

You don’t have to wait for July to see a vintage car rally, and you can see one near St. Louis. The Vintage Car Rally Association uses the same rules and cars as GR. They run a regional 3 day rally in June, usually out of Joplin or that region. The cars leave and come back to the same hotel. Many of the GR teams run this one to practice for the ‘big’ race. You can get a lot closer to the cars and teams, and you can rally any car. it’s a great place to learn how to do it.

If you are in the far west, the closest vintage rally is Sugar Valley in Nebraska.

In the northeast, the Northeast Rally Club runs a similar event late in the year.

And the Coker Challenge in Tennessee is coming up in mid September.

All of these events have websites.

I live in Los Angeles and I don’t expect a western event anytime soon. The 9 day event is a better rally. Crossing the far west requires a lot of boring hours at a constant speed (corn fields, desert, tall mountains, etc.). The teams want to rally, with lots of maneuvers and back road scenery. The east is better suited to that. It’s a long way for us to get there – and back – but we wouldn’t miss it.

Steve, I am interested in entering this years event, but my car is a 1970 Jaguar E-Type, same as a 1969 except for the model year. It appears I would be able to enter the regional rallies, but can find no information about them. Might you have an idea where I can look or whom I might contact. I’d appreciate any advice. Thanks.

Ralph, Personally I would suggest the Coker Challenge and as Steve replied it’s held in September around the Chattanooga area, usually is only a few days and will prove out your vehicle and self . The Coker Challenge is run just as the Great Race is and is wonderful practice and mostly the same great people!

Tom,
Updated information should be on The Great Race website (www.greatrace.com); however I can tell you that the stop in Lowell, MA, on June 21 is in the evening on Middle Street in the downtown area. The first racers are supposed to cross the day’s finish line at 4:45. If the field is as strong as 2013 then there should be a steady stream of cars arriving for the next 90 minutes or so. Teams and cars are then on public display for a few hours.
Matt

I know of several teams that have competed for only a handful of days as recently as last year. I suggest you reach out to Great Race director Jeff Stumb (jeff@greatrace.com) for more details regarding your question.